It has been an amazing year for USM sports so far. With spring season coming to a close in the coming weeks,and a full slate of fall and winter sports behind us, the USM community should be able to look back at this year with a sense of pride as to how the various athletic programs represented this school. It has been a pleasure getting the opportunity to cover the games, events and news surrounding USM sports this year, and hopefully next year brings more of the same.

There have been some amazing victories celebrated and a fair share of painful defeats suffered by all of the athletic programs. As this year rolls into the next though, and the seniors of 2016 leave to be replaced by the 2020 graduating class, the memories created while wearing the blue and gold will linger on the fields, in the locker rooms and in the consciousness of the players and coaches long after the jerseys get washed for the last time and put in storage until next season.

That is, after all, what sports is all about. Yes, winning feels great and losing hurts. Sure, individual awards and team achievements can create a sense of accomplishment and success, but it really about the relationships you form and the time that you share in that collective confluence of struggle, self-sacrifice and coming together that hangs highest, above any banner or retired jersey number.

Our paper tried hard to be a part of the moment-capturing and record keeping process for this year’s athletes, but it can certainly do better There were undoubtedly games missed and stories untold. Thankfully for the athletes and for the teams, those stories were surely shared among each other, and will continue to be remembered for years to come.

This school year was the first in the past three where the Free Press had a sports section. I know breaking the fourth wall here and introducing myself into a news article is somewhat faux pas, but I feel it is important to reflect in this last issue on what has transpired this past year in terms of the sports section. Through the collective effort and will of the editorial staff, our Academic Advisor and the sports section team, our paper now once again covers our teams, and we are proud of it.

Next year will be different; it always is. That’s part of what makes college life so fresh and full of opportunity. Looking forward to 2016-2017, hopefully this sports section finds its legs a little more with a year under its belt. I think it will, and I have been grateful for the opportunity to be a part of its return. Here’s to those that donn the blue and gold, graduating and returning, alumni and future attendees… Go Huskies!